New River Flooding Incident Last week

On 24 May 2016, a burst on a clean water main caused treated drinking water to discharge to the New River. This also caused part of the river bank to collapse and sediment was washed into the watercourse. A full investigation into the cause of the incident is under way, with Thames Water issuing the following statement:

“Thames Water very much regrets the incident and accepts it may be the cause of more than 80 dead fish found in the New River, however this is yet to be confirmed. The main was isolated to prevent more water discharging into the river and repair works are underway. The affected section of the main was isolated and the discharge to the river was stopped by 10:20 on 24 May. Works are ongoing to remove and replace the failed section of the main and to re-instate the collapsed section of the river bank. These works are expected to take up to three weeks to complete.

Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of death of the fish found in the watercourse. This could be due to increased suspended solids in the watercourse from sediment being washed in from the river bank, high dissolved oxygen (DO) levels causing gas bubble disease in the fish or the traces of chlorine contained in the drinking water.”